Mexico hands Korea a rare soccer embarrassment
South Korea's Lee Dong-gyeong, front, falls as he is tackled by Mexico's Sebastian Cordova during a men's quarterfinal football match at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Yokohama, Japan, Saturday. / AP-Yonhap
By John Duerden
There haven't been that many times in the recent history of South Korean soccer when the national team has been outclassed. Thoughts drift back to the 4-2 loss against Algeria at the 2014 World Cup when the Taeguk Warriors went into the second game of the group stage expecting to win but were shocked by a North African team that was as skilful as it was physical. Then there was Saturday in Yokohama and a 6-3 defeat against Mexico that, if anything, was flattering to the Asian team.
Defensively it was a disaster. “I can't believe we conceded six goals,” coach Kim Hak-beom said after the match. Ahead of the tournament, Korea had looked shaky at the back in warm-up games against Argentina and France but then there were three group games against New Zealand, Romania and Honduras.
In 270 minutes of competitive action, Korea allowed just one goal ― something of a freak chance as New Zealand scored with its only real attack of the game. With 10 goals scored then all seemed well. The problem was that New Zealand was happy to sit back and try to grab a goal, and then there were the 4-0 and 6-0 wins over Romania and Honduras. Perhaps these lulled Kim's men into a very false sense of security.
In both games, the opposition were reduced to 10 men in the first half. Korea already was on top in both but with the man advantage, the result was never in doubt. In all three games, there was little to no pressure put on the Korean backline ― one that was already weakened as star central defender Kim Min-jae was not released by his club Beijing FC. So, there was no chance for the defense to sort out its problems and increase the understanding of the players. And it really showed against Mexico.
El Tri was superior in almost every aspect but had a huge helping hand from the generous Korean defense that just couldn't cope with the Mexicans. There were some positives in attack with Ulsan's Lee Dong-gyeong scoring two goals, with the second pulling the scoreline back to 3-2 early in the second half and offering hope that was short-lived.
Overall, however, it was a painful experience for all involved in Korean soccer as the Olympic team exited the tournament at the quarterfinal stage for the second successive event. There are no second chances in the knockout games and the young players, who would have been granted exemption from military service had they won any medal, now head home with nothing to show for their efforts.
The focus now turns to the 2022 World Cup, with the final round of qualification scheduled to begin in September. Some of the players in the Olympic squad will be involved but it is to be hoped that the senior side learns its lessons from Japan and does not make it easy for the opposition.